Once that was done, a week later, I had myself a wild town hack that could also just about survive an 80mph ramble in the motorway slow lane. Off-road use wasn't planned as I live in Central London and don't particularly want to end up in hospital after travelling 50 miles to test my dirt track abilities (zero). I'd guess that the Yam’s low mass and far from aggressive power output add up to an adequate trail bike for someone who knows what he's doing.
I know that the long travel suspension, that was moderately well damped, soaked up some vicious pot-holes that were on my route to work. The rat Superdream used to feel like it was falling apart when it hit them, ending up all over the road. The XT just ran straight through the holes without any great trauma. The front end was just light enough to pull up in the air if I was feeling really energetic, making progress even smoother.
The bike was also very narrow and manoeuvrable, cutting down commuting times by about 25% over the Superdream. Not that it was too surprising as the CB250N kept conking out when fuel leaked out of the carb bowls. After two weeks on the XT I just couldn't be bothered with the Honda any more and quite happily sold it off for £75.
It was just my luck that four days later Rodney Rambo tried to kill me with his red Ford Capri. He was furious, as he reckoned the large dents left by my front wheel had ruined its value as a classic automobile. I was crazed with anger because the front end was mashed beyond easy redemption and I'd caught my balls on the bars when I was jerked forward by our sudden loss of velocity. The peds found the resulting boxing match highly amusing. He ended up with two black eyes and | had a badly bruised knee-cap.
A week later I’d tracked down a reasonable frontend for £70. There were quite a few XTs in breakers, mostly from naff top-ends, either the camshaft shedding metal or the piston seizing up. Admittedly, there were more than 35000 miles on the clock in each of these instances. I also saw a couple of nearly new examples with similar front ends to mine (probably down to the single front disc) but engine prices were high - £400 to £550, so I didn’t stock up on a spare motor for the future.
Further commuting hurdles were encountered in the form of ice, rain and sub zero temperatures. The XT has a slight top heavy feel at low speeds that makes poor road surfaces feel somewhat precarious. The seat height ain’t as extreme as some trail bikes, allowing me to touch down with both feet when necessary. The sit up and die riding position meant I had to take the full force of the wintry weather, although it was very relaxing during cross London commuting in the summer.
Vile quantities of rain caused a little bit of stuttering from the engine but only if | neglected to give the motor a weekly dose of WD40, which was also applied to the coil, switches and alloy (it protects as well as removing moisture). London roads could turn very slippery, even without some jerk laying down an oil or diesel slick, making me thankful for the way the bike could be twitched back into line. The large front wheel meant slides were always progressive, slow enough to react to, unlike some race replicas with sixteen inch wheels that slid so rapidly there was no hope of pulling them back from hell. I had several close shaves with death but didn’t actually come off through the winter and spring.
The front disc was a mixed blessing, being more sensitive than I expected but lacking power. Despite that, it would still twist up the forks when applied harshly. The wet weather didn’t have any discernible effect on its performance but come the spring a very spongy feel at the lever indicated a desperate need for new brake fluid. I never did wear the pads (or the tyres) out, so figure over 13000 miles a set. The rear drum never made an impression on me, good or bad.
By the summer the finish was very poor. Large areas of frame paint had gone missing, replaced by the dreaded rust. The exhaust was all but falling off. Alloy rot was laying waste to the wheels and engine whilst more rust was peeking out of the petrol tank and ancillaries. True, the bike had been used hard on salted roads, through some really atrocious conditions and was starting to corrode when I'd brought it, but that didn't seem to justify its terrible state.
I ended up stripping the XT right down, cleaning, proofing and then painting or polishing as necessary. It was the only way to get to grips with the mess. A newish exhaust, proper front mudguard and final coat of gloss black made the bike look a lot better. Not bad for two weeks work and a lot cheaper than spending my holiday time abroad!
The engine didn’t need any maintenance, just the usual 1000 mile oil change. Even after 27000 miles it still started (first kick) and ran fine. The power was never going to be mind blowing, not much more go than a good Japanese 250 twin. There was a degree of vibration but it wasn’t as annoying as the secondary buzz of a four and faded into the background after a couple of weeks. Cruising at 80mph for half an hour would begin to affect my feet but I found the wind blast more uncomfortable than the vibes at those kind of speeds.
Flat out, crunched down low over the bars, with all of 95mph on the clock, did knock out a grinding vibration that threatened to buzz my feet off the pegs but then the XT350 is a plain and simple thumper that was designed for mild trail work rather than high speed riding. The handling also becomes odd after 80mph, when the long travel suspension can waver around a little and the frame was only just able to stop the back wheel stepping way out.
There was so little mass, though, that I was never close to scaring myself silly. The Gripster tyres were biased towards tarmac work and acted just as well as proper road tyres for most of the time, with the added benefit of refusing to wear out rapidly. I didn't find their reaction to black ice very edifying but that would’ve probably been true of most rubber and at least they gripped again when a bare bit of tarmac was found. The rubber fitted in well with the overall versatility of the XT.
As the second winter was approached, with 31000 miles done, I began to notice that the motor had lost some if its vigour. OK up to 60mph, acceleration thereafter needed a wicked amount of abuse of the still fine gearbox to increase our rate of knots. A slight haze of burnt oil lingered over the machine after a hard day’s worth of abuse. Fuel went from 70mpg to 55mpg, a sure sign that some internal components were worn out.
I'd grown fond of the bike by then so pulled out the engine and tore the top end off. The camshaft lobes were a little scarred but nothing serious. The bore wasn’t marked but the rings were egg-shape and the piston had a few minor score marks. £50 for used but low mileage barrel and piston, plus new gasket set, had the mill back together in no time at all.
As the piston and bore had previously been run in I didn’t have to bother with careful throttle work. Performance was back to its sprightly nature and fuel economy around 75mpg! To survive my second winter I fitted flat bars and a clear windscreen, which if it looked a bit weird at least kept most of the rain and cold at bay.
I could’ve also done with full chain enclosure as it rarely lasted for more than 5000 miles and needed lots of attention. I think the long travel of the suspension gave it a hard time. The oil that was thrown off failed to protect the back end which was soon blistered with rust (even after the repaint), with a couple of spokes breaking at around 32000 miles! I caught the back wheel before it had a chance to collapse but it was a close run thing.
After that winter there were 35000 miles on the clock, the engine still running strong and the chassis beginning to go off again. When a mate offered me 600 notes I was happy to sell... and buy myself a two year old XT350 for £1250. They are good bikes that offer excellent value.
Jack Willis